The Belarusian leader participated in a session of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, along with representatives from 45 countries. Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya delivered a speech and answered questions. Her address focused on the ongoing repressions in the country, legal chaos, and the total isolation to which the regime has led Belarus.
“Belarusians were deprived of the opportunity to defend their rights in international courts. To develop human capital. To build partnerships and alliances, people-to-people ties… And we see the result: Belarus is one of the poorest countries in Europe. State and social institutions are dismantled. People live in conditions of terror. Sovereignty is under threat”, emphasized the leader.
To empower the democratic forces to impact the situation in Belarus, Ms. Tsikhanouskaya highlighted three proposals:
📌 Continue training for Belarusian legal professionals.
📌 Invest in youth organizations and activists to enable them to reach out to peers within the country.
📌 Put more efforts into communications about the Council of Europe to promote ideas of a democratic future in the Belarusian environment.
Ms. Tsikhanouskaya’s key request was the development of a roadmap for Belarus’s accession to the Council of Europe, which the leader sees as crucial for the democratic future of Belarus.
“When the time comes, democratic Belarus will be knocking on the doors of Europe. We want to make sure that these doors open quickly. We aim to be part of Europe to ensure that Belarus’ transition to democracy is both sustainable and irreversible. A reliable and democratic Belarus is in the best interest of the European family”, noted Ms. Tsikhanouskaya.
Ms. Tsikhanouskaya’s speech was followed by debates involving more than 20 delegations and focusing on issues related to the current situation of political prisoners in the country and possible ways of their release. The politicians also discussed the need to continue pressure on the regime and hold it accountable for the abduction of Ukrainian children, support the Belarusian independent media and cultural initiatives, as well as increase the representation of democratic Belarus on the international stage.
At the Permanent Representation of Ireland to the Council of Europe, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya officially presented the Cross of Good Neighborhood to the Secretary-General of the Council of Europe, Maria Pejčinović-Burić, who has contributed to the establishment of the Contact Group between the Council of Europe and democratic Belarus. The group has been working for a year and a half, implementing a series of projects aimed at supporting independent journalists, lawyers, and Belarusian youth.
Earlier, the Cross of Good Neighborhood had been awarded to the Polish President, Andrzej Duda, and Foreign Minister, Radosław Sikorski, as well as Swedish Foreign Minister, Tobias Billström, President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, and Icelandic Foreign Minister, Þórdís Gísladóttir.
